Meet our Faculty

At the School of Social Work, we are committed to building an academic community whose members represent and embrace the diverse cultures, backgrounds and life experiences that reflect the multicultural nature of South Florida and our world.

Dr. Shanna Burke was promoted in August 2021 with tenure to associate professor. Her research focuses on cognition and cognitive impairment, including neurodevelopmental disabilities and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. She aims to decrease health disparities by utilizing culturally responsive multi-modal assessment procedures, diagnostic methods, and interventions targeting cognitive impairments and chronic disease across the lifespan. She has published (or has in press) 48 peer-reviewed journal articles—22 of which she is the first author— since August 2015. Dr. Burke was awarded the Social Work Educator of the Year 2021 by the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the Social Work Educator of the Year 2021 by the Miami-Dade Unit of the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Dr. Mario De La Rosa was appointed as an endowed university professor in Health Equity. This recognition is supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) $9.5M endowment award that has helped establish a robust health disparities research and training program at FIU. Dr. De La Rosa was also recently selected as a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Roundtable. Dr. De La Rosa is the Director of the Center for Research on US Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse (CRUSADA) at FIU. He is a pioneering scientist with more than three decades of experience and expertise in substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and cross-cultural issues affecting Latino populations.

Dr. Hui Huang, associate professor, focuses primarily on developing and evaluating macro-level interventions in child welfare and public health to build evidence-based policy and programs. Dr. Huang is currently co-leading (Co-PI) the external evaluation of the Reducing Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: Closing the Gap (CTG) grant program awarded by the Florida Department of Health (DOH) Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE). The CTG grant program has awarded funds to grantees to stimulate the development of community-based and neighborhood-based projects to improve health outcomes of racial and ethnic populations. The tasks of this evaluation include establishing a broad evaluation infrastructure for the CTG grant program, assessing the success of grantees in achieving the intended goals of the CTG grant program, and expanding the capacity of OMHHE and grantees to evaluate and improve efforts to drive health improvement. She has published 38 peerreviewed journal articles and is the first author on 12 of these articles. She has also published three book chapters.

Amethyst St. Thomas, visiting assistant teaching professor and BSSW field coordinator, joined the faculty in spring 2021 after serving in clinical and administrative positions in behavioral health, child welfare, and criminal justice agencies in Miami and Atlanta. She specializes in transgender care. For several years, Professor St. Thomas has been active in the Miami Chapter of the Association of Black Social Workers (ABSW), previously serving as the Community Action Chair. She was just recently elected president of the chapter.

Long-time faculty, assistant teaching professor David Saltman, was appointed by the Miami-Dade County Commissioner, District 4, to serve as a Community Relations Advisory Board member. He also serves as the elected Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Health Council of South Florida.

Joining our faculty are three Assistant Professors: Sofia Fernandez, Courtney Wilson, and Berenice Castillo.

Dr. Sofia Fernandez came to FIU’s School of Social Work after serving as a postdoctoral associate on FIU-RCMI’s Investigator Development Core, a program designed to provide early state investigators with pilot grant and training opportunities to pursue research careers in the health sciences. Dr. Fernandez earned her doctorate in Social Welfare from FIU’s School of Social Work in 2017. Her research focuses on utilizing community-based approaches to addressing health disparities among hardto-reach populations, primarily HIV. She has a strong background in understanding the various contextual factors of health and well-being, including cultural, social, economic, and community influences on health. Her research aims to incorporate these aspects into the design of interventions and programs.

Dr. Courtney Wilson received his doctorate from the University of Florida’s Public Affairs Program—Social Work track. Dr. Wilson began his career working in the mental health field in New York City, supporting patients with comorbid mental health disabilities. After completing his master’s in social work at Touro College in New York City, he focused on education and academic outcomes for minoritized youth. Over the years, Dr. Wilson has developed a particular interest in working with atrisk populations, communities, educational institutions, and city council members to increase interconnectedness, civic engagement, and opportunities available to marginalized groups. His research focuses on incorporating geographic information systems in understanding social and economic barriers to academic success for marginalized groups.

Berenice Castillo will be joining FIU’s School of Social Work in spring 2022, after earning her joint doctorate in Social Work & Development Psychology from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Her research has focused on substance use behavior over time in adolescents. Her dissertation examines Hispanic adolescent health disparities and mechanisms to improve the health and well-being of Hispanic adolescents who engage in substance use or demonstrate externalizing behaviors.